Improvement in centrifugal disks revolving in air and water



'Unirse n'rarns THOMAS NEBSTER RAMMELL, 0F LQNDQN, ENGLAND.

llilPl'iOViiMENT lN CENTRIFUGAL DISKS REVOL-VING IN AIR AND WATER. I

Specilioation forming part ofLetters Patent No. dated Muy 10, 1564.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS WEBSTER RAMMELL, of London, in the county of Middlesex, civil engineer, a subject of the Queen of Great; Britaimhave invented or discovered new and useful improvements in centrifugal disks revolving in air, water, and other fluids, and in the application of motive power -by such disks and i, the said THOMAS WEBSTER BAMMELL, do hereby declare the nature of the said invention and in what manner the sameis to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the foliowing statement thereof--that is to say:

in the ordinary rotating fan or blower, as used for producing a blast or current of air from the machine, the effect produced is due partly to momentum communicated by vanes or blades to air drawn into the machine at the center and driven out at the` circumfer- .ence,orwhatistermed centrifugalforce,and partly to the heating of the vanos or blades against the air at the circumference, which latter action is accompanied with disagreeable `noise-and much loss of power.

My invention consists in an improvement u the construction of a rotatingwheel or disk, (which i cali a'centrifugal disk,) so that the-eect produced-shall he due solely to centrifngal force, and by the construction adopted 'the noise and loss er" power are avoided and the disk acts in a more'steady and equable' manner and with effect. -'.lhis im proved centrifugal disk may "ne applied with some variation ci construction, as hereinafter explained, either to the producing e draft or enrront of e-ir toward 'the machine or 'to they producing e. `elast orcurrent of air from the machine, or simultaneously to ooth these purioses or to the raising, drawing, `forcing, or throwing ci' waiter or nih-er iionids..A

My .centrifugal dish ci' a dat, hol. iovv, circula-r wheel or cassonade to revolve n'pon/ en asis passing 'through its center. iEhe diskis thicker or'hroader at the center and diminishes gradually in thickness or breadth toward the circemference,`so that its section isyWedge-shspedn The-'dish is divided'into passages or compartments hy intornai partitions :ixed to forming part of and moving round with it, which entend :from the circumference to or toward the oen-` ier, is ieitopen or uncovered at rim or edge. The disk and the internal passages of ducts formed by the divisions are to be constructed of such a shape thatl their sectional Mees may be the same or nearly the same at all distances from the center, and that the sum of the transverse areas of all the passages or ducts may ne the same or nearly the same as that of the apertures at the center, through which the air is admitted, and I prefer also slightly to contract the width of the openings gi he passages at the rim or outer edge of the In Sheet 1 of the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a cross-sectiou, taken through the center of the centrifugal disk in the direction of the axis; and Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation at right angles to the axis, showing theinternal construction of the disk.

.ln these figures, A A represent the axis or shaft' upon which the dislisi'tied, and which isconnected with the steam-engine or other motive power employed iu any convenient manner.

B B' is a dat circular disk or plate fxed'cen trica-lly to the shaftA A', and of less diame ter than the complete disk.v

.U fC are hollow pieces, constituting the central portion or" the disk, each divided by the ribs a o a into a numberoiradiating passages or ducts, ob b. These pieces are also fixed upon the shaitand serve both to hold the middle plate, E B', in position and as mouth-pieces r'for admitting the air on either side. ri d d are radiating ribs, in any convenien number, extending from the circumference of the elisir. to or toward the central pieces on either side, and forming the passages or ducts b o oh They are bolted together in pairs and to the middle plete as far it extends.

E E ere thin metal plates screwed to the radiating sibs forming enter sides oi' the -When the meiehine 'is to ""upiied to the prodecing endmaintaining raft or our rent oi sir toward or into the machine, the contrai openings on either si l nre connected oy niet-ins oi hoilwey trunks @r and the neo` essery intervening pipage i y vother con venient means, with the er or pla JL frontl which the nir is to ii. iliansted, end the s is ma l more less velo-city when into the mnohine,

r flows or f through the ducts or passage b b b b b' b', and is driven out all round the'circumference of the disk at the open rim or edge. The disk as thus conl structed maybe applied for all purposes where a draft or current of air toward the machine is to vbe produced and kept up, such as the ventilation of mines, buildings,and ships, and the blasts of furnaces and forges by drawing the current of air through -the iire, and the like, and may also be applied to the more or less perfect exhaustion'or rarefaction of the air in a chamber or receptacle of any shape or size, or in a tunnel or tube.

Where the machine is to be applied tothe producing a blast or current of air from the machine, it is necessary that the air should flou7 or be expelled from the circular disk, not freely into the surrounding air, but into'a closed chamber or receptacle, which I call a pressure-chamber, and so out of the pressure-,chamber by one or more apertures, and this pressure-chamber I prefer to construct of large capacity.

In Sheet 1, Figs. 1 and 2show the centrifugal disk within the pressure-chamber H H', which may he of any convenient shape, and whichhas a pipe or pipes, l I', leading out of it, and conducting the blast or current of air to thedesired point or points.

When the machine is to be applied only to the producing a blast, the trunks G G', (shown in Figs. l and 2,) with the interveuingpipage and ralves,are. not required, but where the machine is to he used for the double purpose of producing and maintaining both a draft and a blast, they must be used in combination with the pressure chamber and pipe or pipes I l', above described.

For all the above purposes I prefer to make the disk of diameter so large as to admit of the eii'ect desired being attained by direct action from theengineemployed--that is to say, by simple crank movement, as in the case of aI driving-wheel of a. locomotive-engine, or

with as little` intermediate gearin gas possible.

.When the machine is to be applied to the raising, drawing, forcing, or throwing of Water, the same general construction is to be adopted, butin this caseit is requisite 'to use i a disk of much smaller diameter than in the former cases, although in, this case also I prei'cr so to proportion the disk that it may be Worked by direct action. In this case I' always use a pressure-chamber; and as it is desirablel that the disk should revolve or rotate wholly, cr. as nearly so as may be, in airI admit or force air into the pressure-chamber in such quantity as will etiect this object, which is attendtd with this further advantage, that the compressed air within the prssurechaniber vcauses the water or other liquid to issue Y or be ejected from the machine more steadily and cquably than would otherwise be the case. ln Sheetl 1, Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section, Fig. 4 is a transverse section, and Fig. 5 is an enlarged transverse section, of the centrifugal disk, as applied to the raising, drawing, forcing, or throwing of water.

A A' A is the disk, which, in this case, it would be preferable to construct entirely of metal, rotating in a vertical plane upon the horizontal shaft B B' B". U C' U" is the external case or pressure-chamber, which may be of any form, but which I prefer to make of the form shown, and more capacious inthe lower than in the upper part, and with the prolonged part D D' at one end. E E' E" are air-tight collars, dtted round the mouth of the disk on either side, and working upon plane surfaces inside the case, against which they are pressed. F F' is the suction-pipe from a wel), communicating through the branches G G' `with the mouth of the disk. H H' is the discharge-pipe, of any required height and I I' is an inlet-pipe for air, through which the air -may be admitted or forced into the pressure-chamber in any convenient manv ner, and from time to time as occasion may require.

Having now described my invention, I wish it to be understood that I do not claim as my invention the using or applying a. centrifugal wheel or disk, of whatever construction or description, either to the producing aldraftof air or a blast, or to the raising, drawing, forcing, or throwing of water, as thesev have been done previously; but

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The arrangement, in centrifugal disks, as above described, of the separate radial passages or ducts b b i1, formed by the straight ribs a a a, attached tothe central shaft, A A', and extending to the circumference, the said ducts having their respective sectional areas uniform or nearly uniform throughout, and

equal or nearly equal tc the areas of the corresponding openings which admit the air or iluid at the center.

2. In combination with the foregoing, the arrangement of the secondary ribs d d d, extending from the circumference toward the center,.and forming the secondary ducts b' b' b', as above described, by means of which the centrifugal force of the revolving disk is .greatly increasedfor the expulsion of the air or other duid at the circumference.

3. The improved disk, as above described, with or without a pressure-chamber, in combination with the air-iight collars E E' E", fitted-around the mouth of the disk, and communicating by suitable tubes or pipes with any reservoir of air, water, or other lluid, all arranged i-n the manner and for the purposes above described.

T. W. RAMMELL. Witnesses:

R. DUDLEY BAXTER, DAVID BLELLooH, Both of .6 Victoria street, Westminster. 

